TUF 12 Finale: What To Watch For

For the twelfth time, a season of The Ultimate Fighter is coming to
a close. Jonathan
Brookins and Michael
Johnson have battled through six weeks of hard training,
observation, isolation and in-house madness to make it to the final
for the famous six-figure contract.

For all the storylines, angles and intangibles, this is what you
should watch for:

Has Johnson Picked Up Sub Defense?

The game plan for
Springfield Fight Club’s Johnson is relatively simple: Use his
wrestling to keep the fight standing and outpoint Brookins on the
feet. If the fight does go to the ground, the 24-year-old from
Missouri will want to spend only limited time there with an
opponent who has taken eight of his 11 wins by way of
submission.

Brookins has a distinct advantage in the experience department as
he has entered the sport 18 months earlier than his opponent. While
Johnson was mainly active in the Midwest circuit, Brookins has
fought for Global promotions such as WEC and Bellator. In the
25-year-old Floridian’s lone WEC appearance, he pushed eventual
champion Jose Aldo for
two rounds before eventually being stopped in the third.

Will Demian Maia go Back to his Bread and
Butter?

The Demian Maia
who entered the UFC in 2007 only had one objective in mind -- to
submit his opponent. Before the Nate
Marquardt fight, Maia shifted his focus to becoming a more
complete mixed martial artist. The 33-year-old jiu-jitsu virtuoso
was criticized for his new approach by BJJ royalty like Rickson
Gracie, who suggested that he should focus on his strengths
instead of working his weaknesses. It will be interesting to see
which Maia will show up against “The Ultimate Fighter” season three
winner Kendall
Grove.

Although Grove has tasted defeat in four of his last eight fights,
the rangy Hawaiian has never been submitted inside the Octagon. A
win over the top-ten ranked Maia would keep the “Spyder” in the
loop of the middleweight division. It’s important to point out that
the Team Punishment product has not won back-to-back fights in over
18 months, however.

File Photo

Nam Phan

Is 145 the Weight for Nam
Phan?

When Nam
Phan entered this season of the Ultimate Fighter, fans who had
followed his career knew that even though he was a seasoned veteran
with good technical skills, he was fighting above his natural
weight of 145 pounds. As a featherweight, the Vietnamese-American
has enjoyed significant success with a solid win against former
Shooto champion Hideki
Kadowaki.

His opponent, Leonard
Garcia, also had to drop down to 145 pounds before finding
success in his fighting career at the highest level. As a UFC
lightweight, the Greg Jackson protégé went 1-2 with decision losses
to Roger
Huerta and Cole Miller.
In the WEC, he has compiled a 4-3-1 record with knockout wins over
Hiroyuki
Takaya, Jens Pulver
and a controversial split decision nod against Chan Sung
Jung in April.

Will Paixao Finally Display his BJJ in the
Octagon?

Four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Fredson
Paixao has long been championed as one of the most outstanding
BJJ players in the MMA game today. However, the 31-year-old Osvaldo
Alves black belt has not been able to show the range of his ground
skills of late, with the majority of his recent bouts going the
distance.

In the UFC’s first ever featherweight bout, Paixao will face TUF 12
cast member Pablo Garza.
The 27-year-old North Dakotan was eliminated in the first round by
eventual finalist Johnson, and did not make it into the house.
Prior to TUF, Garza was active in the Midwest, winning his first
nine fights, six by way of submission. The 6-foot-1-inch
featherweight was then drafted into the WEC, losing his debut to
the “Mongolian Wolf,” Tie Quan
Zhang.